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Russian Davis Cup team member Sofya Tartakova revealed that the team's players are having a great time together and received a message from Novak Djokovic after their win over Spain. "The boys play football every day. They play quite well.
There is a joke that, above all, Karen Khachanov is afraid to play with the head. He himself said that for some reason he had problems with this," Tartakova said in Match TV Russia. Russia's final group stage match against Spain ended late and the players returned to the hotel in the early hours of the morning." After a long day playing against the Spanish team, they arrived at the hotel around 3 in the morning.
I was with Evgeny Donskoy and Andrey Rublev. I asked them for pizza because they hadn't had time to eat yet. After an hour of waiting they brought them an old and dry pizza," revealed Tartakova. The players of the Russian team love to play football, but also cards.
"The boys often host dinners together and play cards almost every night. They have fierce battles. For some reason they call the card game 'rumba', but I don't know what it's really called, "revealed Tartakova. After Russia helped Serbia reach the quarterfinals, Rublev received a message from all Serbian players, including 20-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic." After their victory over the Spanish team, the Serbian players thanked the team very much, wrote messages to everyone.
Andrey said that all the Serbian players wrote a long message to him, including Novak (Djokovic)," Tartakova said.
Djokovic retained the top spot of World No.1
Novak Djokovic's heroics weren't enough as Serbia lost to Croatia in the semifinals of the 2021 Davis Cup.
He leveled the tie at 1-1 after defeating Maric Cilic 6-4, 6-2 to record his 19th consecutive singles win at the tournament. "Season finished today, so I don't regret any tournament that I played after the date that you mentioned," he said.
"I give my best, as I always do, for national team. There is extra meaning and importance for me, for everybody involved. Unfortunately wasn't to be this time," he rued. "One singles win is not enough. This kind of competition is cruel in a way because it just requires you to win every single match that you play or every single set because it counts." While the loss hurts him and his team, times like these are also an opportunity to grow as a person and a player.
"I don't regret anything in life," he said. "I try to draw lessons from especially the tough moments like this. As much as it hurts me personally and us as a team, these are usually the biggest opportunities to get stronger, to grow, and develop to be even a better person and a player."
